Immortal Light
by wouldbewriter23
Summary: No one ever noticed Jack's light on the globe. And no one noticed when it flickered out of existance
1. Chapter 1

Jack Frost was many things. Trickster and prankster were traits at the top of a long list of qualities that made up his personality. He was juvenile, caring, protective, and at the very core of his being: a child. Of course, he never considered himself a child and absolutely _hated_ whenever someone referred to him as such. Granted, he tended to act in a rather immature manner, enjoyed playing with children (even if they never saw him) and playing with whatever toys he could get his hands on – but that didn't prove anything! In his opinion.

And, as the child he so firmly denied that he was, Jack believed. Not in the traditional way that most children held onto belief, but still as strong as any other believer.

He believed – hoped and dreamed – that one day he would be seen, receive a present from Santa, have companionship. They were what kept him going through the cold isolated nights that tore at his heart. At the center of his hopes and dreams was a belief so woven into his being that he was unaware of its existence: that someone cared for him, and would protect him. His knowledge of the Guardians fueled that belief, no matter how much they ignored him or—in the Easter Bunny's case – screamed at him.

When Jack was taken (kidnapped) to the North Pole and invited into the Guardians, it was the closest to a dream come true that he could ever imagine. He finally, finally had people to talk to who would talk back; people who would protect him, from their arch enemy at the very least. And for a few days, everything was….perfect.

And then came Easter.

He knew they had a right to cast him away, but it didn't make their abandonment any easier. It crushed him, made it nearly impossible to breathe. He'd been so close, so _close_….. But he'd gone a screwed everything up. And being alone was the lightest punishment he deserved.

Pitch's offer nearly brought him to his knees. '_A family'_. All he'd ever dreamed of dangled in front of him, and he'd _wanted_ it so _badly_; wanted to believe the Boogeyman was telling the truth. But then Pitch had gone on his manic 'take over the world' speech, and Jack had quickly snapped out of his dreaming. He'd turned the older spirit down flat, ignoring the look of hurt that was much too familiar.

Which is how he ended up at the bottom of a crevasse in the middle of the Artic. He curled up into a tight ball against the wall of the crevasse, the pain from his broken staff making him light headed. He was frightened, hurt, trapped with his only friend – who would soon freeze to death in such inhospitable temperatures – and no one was coming for him. The harsh reality full settled over him; no one was coming. No one cared.

On the other side of the world, North's yetis stood staring in growing dread as lights went out by the handful, only shuffling back to their work when Phil shooed them one noticed the small blue light at the bottom of the globe. A small light that had graced the iron globe for  
over 300 years, granting power to the Guardians that neither party was aware  
of. For a moment in flickered and then  
blinked from existence.


	2. Chapter 2

E. Aster Bunnymund didn't allow much to faze him. He was a warrior first and foremost; nerves of steel were required. But the last few days had been this side of utter hell. He still felt hollow and cold from the children, who had walked through him, looked through, declared his very existence a joke. He brought his paws to his chest in an attempt to reassure himself. He was there, he was real. It didn't help. Not even the jolt of fear from North's reckless driving as they barreled toward North America could fully convince him.

Bunny looked down at his paws dejectedly. What could three centuries of this constant pain do a person's mind? He jerked his mind away from that train of thought. Jack had been a source of constant worry since they'd lost the boy in England. Since they'd chased him away. Not knowing where Jack was, if the young spirit was alright, deeply troubled him.

The realization that jack wouldn't have betrayed them in such away and the utter devastation in his face at being sent away was too long in coming to clarity. Jack had been gone for hours and the older Guardians settled back at the pole by the time the thought had driven itself into their thick skulls. It crushed them all when they finally realized it. North and Tooth had been dead set on scouring the entire world to find the boy before the rapid drop of their believers drew them away from the search plans.

Jack's terrified, broken face haunted his memory. Aster had completely destroyed the boy, crushed his hope, and he hadn't been able to make himself care. Nothing was stopping him now, and it was tearing him to shreds.

A jagged pain in his center yanked him out of his self-pity fest. His head spun, he could breathe. Oh god, oh god. Had all the lights simultaneously gone out? Bunny lurched to the front of the sleigh, past North and Tooth who were in no better condition than he, to the globe at the front. No, there were still lights, but they were dwindling to single digits. They were only down to six...five….four….three…two. Bunny held his breath, eyes trained on the sole remaining light on the globe. It remained.

"North! Get us to Burgess, now!" He ordered as the Christmas spirit lumbered his way to the reins. The rabbit kept his eyes glued to the bright light, his heart stopping as it flickered.

His eyes misted over, blocking his vision of the light. His head swam, he felt detached from everything. He vaguely heard North screaming for him, but he couldn't focus on the voice of the ringing in his ears and the static that clouded his mind. He was Fading. Oh god, no. He didn't want to go out like this. The kids….the other Guardians…Jack… no, no, no he couldn't die!

The experience lasted one heart stopping second, before he settled back to reality. Bunny sucked in much breath as his lungs would allow, digging his claws into the side of the sleigh to anchor himself. He was alright, the light had stabilized. He was alright, but something was wrong, different.

"Bunny! Aster!" He heard Tooth call. He eyes wiped over to where she was leaning over him. Wait, why was she so much taller than him?

"Oh, Bunny. I thought we were losing you," she cried, on the brink of tears as she gathered him into her arms. Why were arms suddenly so big?

"Yeh, me too. Sheila, why is everything so big?" He forced himself to ask, peeking about the sleigh to confirm that yes, everything was bigger.

"What? Oh, oh! Well, Bunny….." she trailed off, avoiding Aster's gaze and, from the look of it, trying not to laugh. North was not doing nearly as well, letting out booming chuckles as he openly stared at him.

"Oi! I almost died, this is not funny!" He shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at North. He stared at his paw. It should not be that small. Bunny looked down at the rest of his body. He was puny! He was….. he was a bunny!

"It's not that bad—" Tooth began.

"It is too that bad! I'm….I'm a…"

"Adorable," North supplied.

Aster sent him as threatening a glare as he could manage in his new, teeny-tiny body. How had this happened? Why? Then it hit him. The Last Light had lost belief in him, if only for a second. The belief had come back, and this was how the Light saw him now. As a small rabbit.

"Just get us to Burgess, North," Bunny growled. The big man gave him a sympathetic look as he tossed one of his few remaining snow globes and steered the sleigh toward the portal. The sleigh all but dropped out of the sky the second they arrived, no longer containing enough magic to keep them up.

The impact tossed his small body to the very back of the sleigh. He stared up at the sky, listening to North share his utter loss of power. Then he heard Tooth's joyous cry,

"Jack!"

Jack? Jack was here? He was alright? Bunny crawled to the side of the sleigh. Yes, there he was; the kid was alright! Bunny's heart rose. There was still a chance, they could fix this; he could fix his mistakes with Jack.

Maybe they could do this. Jack was strong, he'd kept the Last Light shining. Maybe they could win.


	3. Chapter 3

**My lovely reviewers requested more to this story and so, here ya go. To be clear, after the second chapter things pretty much follow the movie. Enjoy. **

**I do not own this movie. Or Jack. Shame. (I forgot to mention that earlier)**

The flight back to the Pole was almost agonizingly slow. North, for once, refrained from any daredevil flying or using a portal and seemed intent on taking the scenic route home. No one complained – even Bunny held off his usual whines about flying – all much too happy. The ride was peaceful and the view amazing; they were all back together, whole and safe, with a new member snuggly folded into their ranks. Bunny found his gaze shifting to said new member.

Jack had his head rested on his arms as he leaned on the edge of the sleigh, trying to keep the rapidly disappearing Burgess in sight. When the kid went so far as to push his upper body over the edge to peek around the back – the tail end of the sleigh having blocked his view – Bunny decided it was time to intervene.

"Yer goin' ta tumble out if ya keep that up, kid," he chided, dragging the frost spirit close by the hood. Jack threw him a glare before settling down next to him. He glanced wistfully behind him, as if he could see the town even through the seats of the sleigh and sighed.

"You'll be able to visit the bitters later, kiddo. Later" he emphasized, flicking Jack's ear to get the boy's attention, "meaning during winter. No more of this snowin' over Spring business." Jack stuck his tongue out at the older spirit, a happy smile lighting up his face.

"Don't be jealous that people like Winter better," he jibbed. Bunny smirked back, happily excepting the challenge.

"Oh do they now?" With that he tackled the frost boy into a head lock, alternating between well-deserved nogies and merciless tickles. Jack giggled uncontrollably, batting at Bunny's paw and trying to wiggle out of the rabbit's hold.

"Boys, boys! No wrestling in ze sleigh!" North ordered from up front, watching the two with obvious amusement.

"Daddy to the rescue," Bunny snorted as he shoved the kid away. "This conversation is not over," he whispered so only Jack could hear him. The winter child only laughed and stuck his tongue out again before snuggling back into the seat. Bunny watched him for a moment with a fond smile before turning to engage in a half-hearted conversation with the older Guardians. He was only able to give half his attention to Tooth worried chirps on Sandy's condition – something he was also quite concerned about – his thoughts elsewhere.

He needed to find time to talk to Jack. He owed the kid a heart-felt apology, something he was admittedly very bad at. But he would do it, dig into the deepest corners of his heart, more than likely tear his pride to shreds, and apologize to the kid. Aster still couldn't quite wrap his mind around it; Jack had come back, at a very high risk to his own safety, to save them. After they'd tossed him aside without so much as a second thought. After Bunny had completely torn the boy apart. Aster had felt it: the way the hope in the boy had withered away, felt the utter destruction of the very thing he protected and just… ignored it. It hurt to think he could do such a thing.

Hope had rooted itself back into the winter boy, thankfully. Hope was a resilient thing, especially in children. But it did very little to ease his guilt. Nor did the fact that Jack seemed to have moved past the incident offer any relief. It would have been so much easier if Jack would be _angry _with them. Bunny would know how to deal with that at least; but this total forgiveness and just forgetting and moving on, that he didn't know how to handle.

A sudden chill against his shoulder jerked him out of his thoughts. Jack had settled against his side and seemed to be nodding off. Bunny jerked his shoulder and jolted the boy back to awareness.

"Fall asleep on someone else, Frostbite," he said with a chuckle.

"M' not asleep," Jack murmured.

"Sure yer not." But Bunny couldn't bring himself to shake the boy off again when he leaned against him once more. He held back a laugh as light snores reached his ears and the chilled child nuzzled into his furred shoulder. A gentle coo drew his attention to the seat in front of him. Tooth stared at them in open adoration. Bunny sent her a smile and motioned to the sleeping boy cuddled up next to him.

"Want to trade places, She—" before he could finish the sentence, Bunny was all but tossed out the sleigh as Tooth forced herself into his spot next to Jack's sleeping form. The boy opened one sleep hazed eye as his head was guided to Tooth lap, looking up at her confused. As he settled onto his side, mumbling a childish protest about being awake.

"Shh, just go to sleep, Sweet Tooth," she softly whispered as she gently ran her fingers through his hair. Jack turned and blinked up at her before snuggling into her feathered knee.

"J'okay mum," he slurred before falling back asleep. Tooth almost swooned at the sleepy endearment before she went back to stroking his hair.

Sandy smiled fondly and sent s stream of sand toward the boy. The sand circled over the child's head, forming glistening dolphins that swan around his head. Jack gave a happy sigh and curled around Tooth's lap in an even deeper sleep.

"Ah'm not carryin' 'im out of here," Bunny warned. The others promptly ignored him, attention focused solely on the sleeping boy.

"I love him. He's so…." Tooth trailed, cooing as Jack began to snore.

"Annoying, troublesome, infuriating," Bunny supplied, earning annoyed glances from his team mates.

"Come now, Bunny. Even you must admit….. iz adorable!" North objected.

"AhI'll admit Ah like 'im better when he's quiet." At the disbelieving glares from his fellow Guardians, he cracked. "Fine! The brat looks like an angel. When he's asleep. And don' ya ever tell 'im Ah said that!" He growled, sending each of them a mock-threatening look. Tooth and Sandy both made zipping motions over their mouths in promise, while North looked like he fully intended to use that comment in black mail. Bunny groaned and settled into his seat.

The group settled into comfortable silence for the remaining flight to the Pole. Where, of course, Bunny was forced to carry the boy as North led them to the boys designated room. Juggling the boy in his arms – really, the kid was _all_ arms and legs – Bunny finally wrestled him in bed. As it turned out, Jack was a cuddler and getting him to bed was next to impossible. With the boy neatly tucked into bed, Bunny walked past the laughing North and went to join the others by the warm fire.

-Line Break—Line Break – Line Break-

Aster was on the edge of sleep when North's booming voice jolted him awake. Bunny gave a growl, climbed to his feet and lumbered over to wear the larger spirit stood studying the iron globe.

"North, what is it? Ah'm exhausted and in no mood for chatter," he gripped.

"Bunny, I have come across a problem," North informed the rabbit spirit, staring at the globe in utter confusion.

"We know it's not goin' ta be the same fer a while, North. We lost a lot of ground in the battle. Why does this require my attention?"

"Look at the Pole," he ordered, pointing to the top of the globe. Bunny blearily stared at the indicated spot.

"Ah don' get it."

"There iz no light," North prompted.

"There never is, North. We don' have kids here," Bunny pointed out with a yawn.

"There was light when we brought Jack to Pole first time," North informed him, waiting for the information to sink in.

"What are ya goin' on about….." Bunny's eyes widened all thoughts of sleep flying from his mind. "Jack's a believer?"

"Was believer," North corrected. Bunny's heart sank. Jack had been a light on the globe for 300 years before his initiation into the Guardians. And some time in the last few days, that light had died. Aster was almost positive he could pinpoint the moment that belief had died. North placed a large hand on the rabbit's shoulder, who looked about on the verge of tears.

"We will fix, Bunny. Do not worry."

"Yeah," Bunny whispered with little conviction. But, if anyone was to fix it, Bunny was the prime choice. He'd been the one to kill Jack's belief, so he was the one to fix it.

-Line Break – Line Break – Line Break –

Jack stumbled out of his room toward the smells of breakfast. After watching the boy wander aimlessly for an hour, a yeti took pity on him and led the child to the kitchen. The older Guardians snapped to attention when he entered, causing Jack in turn to freeze stiff.

"Uh, hi?" Jack ventured awkwardly, shifting in discomfort under the laser like focus his team mates had directed at him.

Tooth was the first to snap out of her intense focus. North had informed them of Jack's loss of belief earlier that morning. It had been a crushing realization and something they vowed to fix as soon as possible.

"Oh, hi Sweet Tooth. How did you sleep?" She flittered over to the boy, fighting the instinct to envelope the boy in a hug and promise him that he was loved. Jack hadn't known that kind of love in years, and reacting in such a way would likely scare him off. The thought only drove the need to fix their relationship with the boy even further into her mind.

"It was amazing! It's been _forever_ since I slept in a bed. It was great," Jack gushed. The boy's level of excitement over a bed was disheartening to say the least.

"Am glad you liked. Come, eat. You are hungry, no?"

"Yeah," Jack said with equal excitement. After watching the boy eat for a few minutes, the older Guardians started up small conversations over their own breakfasts.

"So, Jack. What are plans, now?"

Jack looked up from shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. He thought for a moment, before shrugging and putting the fork down.

"I figured I'd head back to my lake. Get rid of any lingering 'Pitch vibes'. I still can't believe I didn't notice we were neighbors for the past 300 years. It's kind of sad, actually." Jack rambled before going back to eating.

"Yes, you could do that. Or…would you like to stay here?!" North threw his arms open, watching Jack's reaction. The winter spirit blinked at the older man, trying to comprehend the offer. Stay here? At the Pole? With North, Santa?! What kid wouldn't want that? But….wasn't the man worried that he might ruin Christmas? Like Easter?

"I would very much like input on my ice sculptures. I can never quite seem to get zem right. And, of course you would be able to test new toys. Much better zen elves. So, what do you think? Would you like?"

"I-I, yeah. Yeah, I would love that!" Excitement lit up Jack's young face; a grin so large it shouldn't have fit his face grew.

"Wonderful. Now, you want tour, no?" Jack nearly knocked the table over; he jumped out of his seat so fast. North laughed and led the young spirit away. The remaining Guardians shared a smile. Things were looking up.

-Line Break – Line Break – Line Break-

By the following evening, it was time to part ways. With a promise to check in every month, Sandy and Tooth darted out the window. Bunny hesitated to follow, needing to get his talk with Jack over with. Taking a deep breath when he found the boy hanging in the rafters watching toy production, the rabbit hopped up to join him. Jack looked over with a smile before returning his attention back to the yetis below.

"Hey kiddo." How was he supposed to do this?

"Hey, Cottontail." It's not like he could just say 'sorry I crushed your hope and killed your belief kid. My bad'.

"So… busy couple of days, huh?" Come on Aster, it's not rocket science. Just apologize.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it," Jack commented with a laugh.

"Okay, look kid. About the other day…."

"It's fine. I messed and you kicked me out. I get it." Bunny flinched.

"No. No it is not okay." Aster took a breath, "what happened was not yer fault. And Ah shouldn' have said what I did. No," he snapped, putting a finger to the boys lips before he could interrupt. "listen ta me. Ah shouldn' have said it. And Ah shouldn' have sent ya away. And ya have ta know, Ah'm….. ah'm so sorry."

"Bunny—"

"Let me finish. Ah'm sorry. Ah hurt ya. Don' say I didn'" again halting Jack's protest, "Ah know Ah did. And Ah'm sorry. And Ah need ya ta know…. Ah trust ya. Ah'm so happy yer part of the team and….Ah'm proud of ya. Ya pulled out a lot of stops today kid. Ah'm impressed and proud." Jack stared at him in awe, tears clouding his eyes. "So, there ya go." Before he could say anything else, Bunny found his arms full of sobbing child. He numbly wrapped his arms around the boy, rocking him gently. Was it that bad? Was he really that horrid at apologies?

"Do…..do you really mean that?" Jack's teary voice was muffled be fur, but Bunny still got the question.

"Yeah kid, every word."

Jack looked up and gave a smile as he wiped his tears away.

"Oh so, uh. If you…if you need help….. with Easter…..I mean Springs not my thing but….I'd uh…."

"Sure, ya could help out. But no freezin' anythin'." Jack crossed his heart and smiled. Bunny smiled back and drew the boy into a one armed hug.

-Final Line Break – Final Line Break – Final Line Break-

Few ever noticed Jack's unwavering 300 hundred years of belief. Jack himself was unaware of it. No one ever saw as it died in the depths of the Artic. And now, no one was there as it ever so subtly lit the iron replica of the North Pole in a pale blue glow. It was a small, weak thing, but as unwavering as the three centuries prior.


End file.
